6th High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities

Organisers
Government of Malaysia
Government of Japan
Government of Cambodia
ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities

February 9 - 10, 2015 marked the Sixth High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (HLS ESC) organised by the Governments of Malaysia, Japan, Cambodia, ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Working Group on ESC in Surabaya, Indonesia.

The two-day meeting brought together representatives of environment ministries, local governments, international organisations, NGOs, academe and front-line experts on urban environmental management issues in Asia to discuss the ongoing activities on ESC and to foster collaborative actions between stakeholders to achieve ESC under the East Asia Summit collaborative framework.

A Draft Action Plan for an ASEAN ESC Community 2025 was proposed and it was recommended that an Online Sourcebook be created under the ASEAN ESC Model Cities Programme, detailing city ESC visions, good practices and policies and requirements of assistance and interests of ASEAN Members States and cities in ESC international cooperation. Local governments were further encouraged to ‘Multi-stakeholder Mayoral Advisory ESC Committee’ (or equivalent) and an ‘International Liaison Office’ (or equivalent) and which will implement ESC projects within their cities

Thematic Sessions were held on ASEAN ESC Cities; .Capitalising on Opportunities for Air Quality Action; Decarbonising Cities; Governance and Community Engagement; Resiliency;

Local governments, NGOs and research institutions exchanged experiences and shared information.

Delegates discussed potential ways forward and opportunities for collaboration with strong support for sustaining the HLS platform and the Model Cities Programme.